Bon Odori 2008 – ほんとうにタノシイですよ！♥

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN NEEEE~

I mean – loads of authentic Japanese food, yukata-clad pretty people, Japanese giggly kids of extreme kawaii-ness, Japanese haaawt dudes to ogle, the Bon Odori dance, IT’S HARD NOT TO RAMBLE ABOUT HOW MUCH I ENJOYED MYSELF IN A LITTLE NIPPON HEAVEN XDDDDDDD

Anyways I got back home at midnight, tired and sleepy, but nevertheless with so many wonderful memories that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to forget (until the next year arrives XD)! ♥ Just came by to say just HOW MUCH I ENJOYED MYSELF! I took soooooo many pictures and videos, but I’ll only upload tomorrow because I need sleep and dreams of a certain HAWT-HAWT-HAWT-HAWT-HAWT HeySayJump’s Yaotome Hikaru-lookalike playing the taiko lknlskdng849bg8sbnglsdkh *le dreamy sigh*

OMFGGGGG SO MUCH TO TELLLLLLLLLLL!!!!
I
MUST
NOT
POST
ALL
THE
PICTURES
NOW
NEED
SLEEP.
SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
*nods*

But before I go, here’re a couple of previews!

  

Those girls. are. SO COLOURFUL AND SO KAWAII YESSSSSSS?!?!?!?!!? Especially that red-yukata-clad smiley girl in the first picture. OMG I sooooooooo squeaaaaaaaaaaled at the UNDEFINABLE KAWAIINESS OF HER SMILE (she was running after her dad who was carrying some dango LOL XD). Heck, I’m even surprised I got such a great candid shot from a crappy camera XDDDDD I swear I could’ve gotten hoarse just squealing at the sight of so many little Japanese children running around carrying dango and ice cream. THEY’RE SO KAWAII YOU WANNA CATCH THEM AND SQUISH THEEEEEEEM~

Alright, sleep calls. Ohmiyasumi nasai~~~~ (learnt that from Vero-chan XDDDDD)

[14th July UPDATE]

Gomen for not updating yesterday – I totally knocked out with exhaustion, also what with the homework I had to rush and all! Anyways, here’s my report xD

I’m not gonna go into details about the 30-minute train ride I had to endure, with no air conditioning, people packed like sardines in a can, and me sweating like a pig bcecause I was wearing a black jacket *grumbles* Once at the station in Shah Alam, we took a free shuttle bus to the stadium where the Bon Odori was held, and yes it seems EVERYONE was taking the free bus service XD

Arrived at the stadium at about 6pm, and already it was PACKED with people! And the stadium isnt exactly small – the Bon Odori stage was in the middle of the field, while to the side was the food stalls and picnic areas, and to the other side were stadium seats. Not only that, I kinda felt like I was entering a little Nippon island because I saw soooooo many people wearing yukata (little kids and girls and boys, all so kawaii and kirei <3), so many sorts of people speaking Japanese (heck we passed by an Indian tour guide speaking in Japanese to a lost Japanese family! I GOT SO SHOCKED I ALMOST STARED D:), and JAPANESE FOOOOOD.

First thing my friend and I did was attack the stalls and hunting down green tea ice cream, there were all sorts of food to make your mouth drool – ikayaki, onigiri, dango, kakigouri, katsudon, yakisoba, takoyaki, korokke (which my brother demanded I brought home some because he got obsessed with it ever since Yamada Tarou Monogatari XDDDDDDDD), omg YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO GO ON XD

Recorded while browsing the stalls XD

Oh and as for the green tea ice cream… I TOTALLY SQUEALED WHEN I SAW YOKOMON (a Japanese ice cream chain). Got my green tea ice cream and IT TASTED LIKE HEAVEEEEEEEEEEEEEN (it might even taste better than Sho sdklgnlsdkngdlshk XD). Wanted to get more after that but the queue was craaaaazy T_T But while trying to get out of the queue, I accidentally bumped into this random guy. As I apologised, I noticed that he was A VERY HAWT JAPANESE GUY that I blushed D: Then he went “Aaah, sumimasen!” it’s like KLNKSDLGN93HT8HLSDGN I THINK I’M IN HEAVEN. I SHOULD’VE PURPOSELY BUMPED INTO MORE RANDOM JAPANESE GUYS XDDDDD

And to prove my everlasting euphoria, I recorded a Yokomon promotional video XD

We got a pretty good picnic spot on the edge of the field surrounding the middle field (where the bon odori stage was located). We came prepared with a pink checkered picnic blanket – KAWAII DESHOU?!?!!? XDDD At least we didn’t have to sit on the grass like everyone else WHEEEEE~ As we devoured the food, we started spying on the people XDDDDD There weren’t many cute guys, but YES THERE WERE KAKKOII YUMMY JAPANESE BOYS~~~~ especially the one I bumped into <333333 Most of them had girlfriends already though… T_T A lot of Japanese families passed by too – I find it sooo kawaii when the otousan carried their kids on their shoulders while they ate dango, argh it’s so hard not to squeal out loud! Also saw two Korean women who were lining up in 2 different queues and were 5 feet apart and yet they still enthusiastically chatted louder LOL.

Oh, and there were also…
     

COSPLAYERS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Okay seriously, this is a little stupid. For one thing, you do NOT go to a traditional Japanese festival where you HONOUR THE DECEASED to parade around in anime costumes as though this is an anime fest! I mean, yes, the Bon Odori is more of a Japanese culture fest rather than the rea deal, but it’s still considered an insult. Think about those Japanese people who would’ve been offended! If you do this in Japan you’d get shot (I really wish I’m not being figurative…). YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES.

So anyways I ignored those cosplayers because the bon odori dance was going to start. I left my friend alone and went closer to the stage to record. The taiko drum players were HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWT. THEY’RE LIKE 14-YEAR-OLD JE-BOYS-LOOKALIKE WITH MUSCLES LKSDNG9026YU248HJGIJA;,’;ASGH with the exception of a female taiko player… XDDDDDD So the boys played the taiko while female yukata-clad bon odori dancers danced around them, while the crowd around danced along around the stage. It’s really fun ne~ My friend and I didn’t dance though because we were too stubborn to leave our perfect picnic spot XD

Bon Odori dance – sorry for the shaky video XD

OH AND ANOTHER REASON TO FLAIIIIIIIIIIIIIL~
I was going towards the stage to take another video of the dance, when I saw two Japanese girls in yukata walking directly in front of me. They had uchiwas strapped into the back of their obi (as usual) but the uchiwa wasn’t the usual bon odori uchiwas… THEY WERE KATTUN UCHIWAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One girl had a Kame uchiwa, while the other was covered by yet another uchiwa (a common one) but I was guessing it was a Naka uchiwa? I DON’T KNOW I SAW TWO JE FANS (even though I do not like KATTUN) KYAAAAAAAAAAH~ While I was secretly taking pictures of them, this girl went up to them and asked “OMFG ARE YOU A KATTUN FAN?!” The Japanese girl didn’t understand English I think, and the other girl said KATTUN again, pointing at the uchiwa. The Japanese girl then understood and nodded, but then it got awkward so the girl just went away. ARGH I THINK IF I SAW A JAPANESE ARASHI FANGIRL I WON’T CARE I’D STILL FLAIL TO HER IN MY FEEBLE JAPANESE XDDDDDDDDDD

During the final dance of the night, the crowd dancing around the stage was HUUUUUUUUUGE~ Mite mite!

Sugoi da naa~

So the Bon Odori ended, and people started to leave. After we packed our stuff, I noticed that the taiko drum players and the bon odori dancers were leaving the stage, and people started crowding to take photos of them and I was like “OMG I WANT A PHOTO TOOOOOOOOO~” and started dragging my poor friend over XD And seriously, the taiko players and bon odori dancers were treated like CELEBRITIES. The crowd cornered them against the stage so they had a hard time leaving, that in the end they started posing for the cameras LMAO. Up close, the taiko players were SOOOOOOOOOOO HAWT. Like I said, JE-BOY LOOKALIKES! And Japanese tooooooo <333333 I couldn’t snap a photo because the crowd was totally insane and my photos kept ending up blurry because I kept getting pushed around. So in the end I only got a shot of the bon odori dancers and sorta gave up and walked away, until I SAW. Another taiko player alone and taking pictures with some people! AND OH. MY. EFFING. GAWD. HE. LOOKED. LIKE. HIKARU. FROM. HEYSAYJUMP. LIKE A 14-YEAR-OLD HIKARU. HECK I MIGHT EVEN THINK HIKARU SHRUNK AND FLED TO MALAYSIA AND STARTED PLAYING THE TAIKO LOOOOOL XDDDDDDDD And he was sooooooo kawaii! His right arm was in a sling though, and he looked kinda awkward and shy as people started crowding around to take pictures with him. But this is where I got reallyyyyy pissed. See, the people were being TOTALLY rude to him – they’d just run up and grab him while getting someone to take a picture for them, basically just treating him like an ornament and not a boy. Hikaru (I started calling him that XD) was forced to take a picture and he seemed really uncomfortable, y’know being Japanese and having a language barrier. They didn’t even speak a word to him, or even asking for permission to take a photo (y’know, the usual Japanese politeness). I was just trying to figure out the correct sentence in Japanese to ask for a picture, when his mother shouted urgently, “Ikenai yo! Ikenai yo!” and Hikaru practically ran to her, and they both escaped to the locker room! It was kinda hilarious actually – like how celebrities flee the paparazzi? I witnessed that! Now I will not make fun of celebrities fleeing paparazzi T_T

So I spent the rest of the night thinking of Hikaru, regretting not being able to get a picture of him T_T I was whining to my friend, all the while we exited the stadium and was lost as to which bus we should hop on. We then randomly picked a bus and went on, and then only to find out we were on the wrong bus! Turned out we boarded a bus for university students, hazukashii yooooooooo! But then… the student representative who caught us… HE WAS HAWT. I mean like, Edison Chen HAWT with softer, kinder eyes? KLNKLNDSGLKN4389HG8SDNHKSDH. He was so hawt that I momentarily forgot about my embarrassment XDDDDDD

So that concludes my Bon Odori 2008 report! Now my aspirations for next year’s Bon Odori is,
1) Wear a yukata
2) Learn to speak Japanese so I get a reason to speak with hawt Japanese taiko-playing boys
3) BRING AN ARASHI UCHIWA
4) Join in the Bon Odori dance
5) Bring LOTS of yukata-clad friends XDDDDDDDD

Alright, I compiled all of my photos into a slideshow, which is SOOOOO much more convenient XD Douzo!

It was a really fun night ♥